Indian Epics and Analysis

Four Different Topics I am Interested In: 1. Dashartha: The Hunting Accident      I began looking for certain stories that might could become a court trial or a murder mystery or something of that nature, and I came across Dashartha . Dashartha kills a boy while hunting, which was supposedly an accident, so I could invent a story where a defense attorney will work for Dashartha. On the other hand, I could tell the story from the attorney who the blind parents hire to get their revenge on Dashartha (they could sue them maybe?). When Dashartha goes off to war, I could create a new twist on the story. Of course, this is just a brainstorming assignments, but I want to possibly write my storybook or portfolio about a story such as this. 2. Krishna      I would begin just as the story begins: Krishna's parents in imprisoned by King Kamsa, and I would tell the story of Krishna's miraculous birth. Potentially, this could be a lifetime story or a diary of Kr...

After reading a few articles on constructive criticism, I realized how much of a perfectionist I can be at times. The first, " Recalibrating the Perfectionist Mind" put into perspective how much others' opinions are really needed to make my writing better. Improving my own work must have outside eyes in order to see mistakes I cannot see, and I have to realize that it's okay for my first draft to have a few errors. In this article, perfectionism is almost seen as a cripple because students, athletes, and performers are so caught in the initial performance that they don't actually improve. This mindset is going to have to be something I overcome while I allow others to comment on my blog and projects for this class. Also, "Silence the Critical Voices In Your Head" seems to grasp the concepts of the first one very closely. Perfectionists always tend to be their own worst critic, and I have wanted to give up on things in the past because my work wasn...

A new spin on the Turtle and the Geese Story: Once upon a time, a turtle was sitting on the riverbank enjoying the warm sun. The turtle has always wondered about the sun and how to become closer to it. The sun was bright and warm, and it made the turtle happy. One day, a bird came down to the riverbank for a drink. The turtle saw the bird flying closer to the sun and wondered what it would be like to fly. “What does the sun look like up close?” asked the turtle. “I feel so warm and bright when I fly, I love the sun. You should fly up there with me tomorrow” replied the bird. The turtle was engulfed with excitement about flying, but suddenly realized that he had no way of flying. “Don’t worry, friend. I will take you on a flight; you don’t need wings. Just find a rope to hold onto while I fly, but don’t speak of this to others until after you return to the ground” said the bird with a stern voice. Other animals at the river began to notice the commotion, and the...

1. Extra Jatakas      A. The Pious Wolf            This story can be found in  The Pious Wolf , and it begins by describing a large flood and a wolf            sleeping on the top of a large rock. The Wolf awoke and found himself trapped without any                  food. Since the day was Friday, he remembered that people fasted during this day, so he began            praying. He thought highly of himself because he was praying and acting like a pious Wolf. A            Fairy was flying by and noticed his words of self-righteousness and wanted to see if his fasting            was genuine. She turned herself into a Kid and landed on the rock. The Wolf immediately said            he can wait and fast tomorrow and forgot to keep praying. The Kid...

1. The Foolish, Timid Rabbit       Similar to the English Folk Tale, Henny-Penny. The rabbit heard a coconut drop to the ground and was too afraid to look back and see where the noise came from, so he frantically began telling other rabbits. Soon, a Deer, Fox, and Elephant joined the Rabbit running through the animals. Then, the Lion (the King of the Beasts) saw the animals running, so he roared three times to get their attention. Each animal was questioned about the frantic running, and each one blamed it on the Rabbit. Finally, the Lion took the Rabbit back to the tree where he was sleeping and showed him that his foolish fear of the earth breaking only came from a coconut.   This illustration of The Foolish, Timid Rabbit was done by Ellsworth Young The Foolish Rabbit 2. Two Turtle Jatakas      A. The Turtle and the King            A king once had a lake and his young princes played and swam in it, and...

Sita  Although I am eager to read lots of different stories during this course, a few really seemed interesting. One was the stories about Sita; her heroine-like adventures will be fascinating to read. It is rare (especially in ancient texts) that the main character of the story is a powerful woman such as Sita. Initially, I read a few final projects on Sita, so I can't wait to read more stories about her; one example will be  OU Library: Sita's Ramayana . My first knowledge of Sita came from this article:  Maya Sita Wikipedia Prince Rama's Ramayana After reading some previews and overviews of these stories, I am excited to see these epics through the actual story book. These stories about Prince Rama remind me of Hercules: a young man slaying demons and rescuing people. Of course, I love romance and happy endings, but I also enjoy reading action-filled stories. One book in the OU Library encompasses most of his stories: The Epic of Rama . I feel like reading...

Although I have a few weaknesses as far as studying goes, I believe time management is one of my strengths. Because I have to continually study for the LSAT in addition to completing work for my classes, I have found a few time strategies that work for me personally. The main part of my strategy that I implement each day is the use of my planner. I write EVERYTHING in my planner: it is like an hour-by-hour summary of my day. I see myself as a very structural person (which is not great when I need to be flexible and plans change), but it has been extremely helpful when making time to complete my assignments. I write my assignments and studying in order of due date to make sure one does not get completed too close to the deadline, and I always complete the most difficult task first. Student Leadership University Frog I attended an outstanding leadership conference, SLU, and learned how to "swallow the big frog first" and complete the most difficult tasks before the eas...

I have almost arrived at the end of my first week of classes, and all of them have very different styles of learning and requirements that go with them. Of course, my other classes that meet in person have substantially less technology associated with them, so this course will be different. At first glance of this "Class Tools" assignment, I was immediately overwhelmed with all the unique types of websites and design tools we will be using. As I previously stated in another post, I am very unfamiliar with creating websites  and using technology like this, and I have even been too intimidated to use a blog because of my lack of creative abilities. Although I am a little overloaded with all of the tools and sites we will be using, I have a feeling my weekly routine for this class will be a lot easier than it looks on the wiki post. I am excited to finally learn how to use some of these tools, and I will definitely use them for future classes (and I might even finally publish ...

After reading through the short descriptions of each weekly assignment, I am excited to begin this class. As a pre-law students, I obviously have a passion for reading and writing. Each aspect of this class will develop my skills as a writer, but it will also be enjoyable along the way. My formal writing skills have not been used in this class so far (due to the casual nature of the blog topics), but I feel as if those will be expressed while completing the reading assignments. I do have a small concern: creativity. Sometimes, I slightly cringe when I read the word "project" because I am extremely dry when it comes to my creative abilities. When others give me a specific topic to write about, I am thrilled to do so (and I am actually pretty good at making others' writing sound much more sophisticated and more in-depth). However, making up fictional stories might be difficult for me, and I really don't like trying to come up with something "off-the-wall." ...

Although I did not know about Carol Dweck and her work before this class, I am very intrigued by her ideas and her discussions. The first transcript I read already related to me because I was raised as a very accomplishment-based child from the beginning. My parents did, in fact, raise me to be a high-achieving adult, but I feel as if my personality is bent towards accomplishments and goals even without their influence. Because of this, I am very hard on myself (especially during failure), and I am not as flexible as I wish I were when obstacles come into my life. This large part of my personality is a blessing because of my drive towards goals I want to achieve, but it is also very difficult to let go of when I don’t get tasks done in time or done well. When I enrolled as a freshman at the University of Oklahoma, I was unsure about my major. Because I did not decide on a major until my second semester, I was apathetic about my classes and chose a major that wasn’t right for me “jus...

My name is Leigh McBride, and I am a junior here at OU. I am a philosophy major, and I am hoping to attend law school after graduation. I love my classes, but I will have an extremely difficult year due to my upcoming LSAT test date next June. My DREAM LAW SCHOOL is the University of Texas in Austin, but it is one of the hardest schools to get into in the southern half of the country. My dad graduated from UT with a bachelors in business and education, so I have always (secretly) been a longhorn. Everything I do this year will directly work towards my dream school! But always, I will always be a Sooner first and foremost: it is where I chose to attend my undergraduate years, so it will always be my true home.    University of Texas Clock Tower and West Campus Fountain This spot is where I took my family pictures each year  This year, I will be mostly studying for the LSAT, but I still work two jobs and participate in my sorority, Kappa Alpha Theta. I live...